Bengaluru filmmaker brings back ’90s rom-com magic with debut ‘Chasing Rahul’

Like many ’90s kids, filmmaker Munavar Zama grew up on films like Kal Ho Naa Ho, Hum Tum, Jerry Maguire, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually and When Harry Met Sally.”They had all those tropes of a good rom-com: boy meets girl, maybe a bit of reluctance and misunderstanding, then they fall in love. I am a big fan of this particular genre,” he said in an interview in Bengaluru.

For Zama, the appeal of the genre lies in its balance. “An equal relationship between the boy and the girl, with the latter having as much agency as the former,” he said.

That template shapes his debut film Chasing Rahul, a 60-minute romp through modern-day Bengaluru starring Sunaina Ruth, Saketh Janardhana, Naimunnisa Khan and Nevin Reuben.